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The Mongolian Revolution of 1921

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Fujiko Isono
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Extract

Most historians agree that the Mongolian revolution of 1921 was initiated by Soviet Russia and was imposed on the Mongols, who were nothing more than their passive tools. This must be at least partly due to the fact that so far, works on this subject have almost exclusively been based on materials of Russian and Chinese origin. Materials published in the Mongolian People's Republic, however, provide ample evidence that the Mongolian revolution originated in a purely Mongolian situation, though the Mongols could never have succeeded in their revolution without Soviet support.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , July 1976 , pp. 375 - 394
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

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References

1 The most important of them include A Short History of How the Mongolian National Revolution Was Started and Achieved (Ulan Bator, 1934), by Choibalsan, Losol and Demid, the first two of whom were members of the secret mission to Soviet Russia (hereafter Three-Man History).Google ScholarThe Narratives of the Mongol Partisans, published in two volumes (Ulan Bator, 1961 and 1969), containing the narratives of over 470 partisans, in their own words, is another unique document of the period.Google Scholar In addition to Reminiscences Concerning D. Sükhbaatar (Ulan Bator, 1969)Google Scholar, and Source Materials Concerning D. Sükhbaatar's Work and Life (Ulan Bator, 1964), with 109 documents, including his correspondence,Google ScholarTales of an Old Scribe (Ulan Bator, 1956), by Nabaannamjil, G., an autobiographical account of the period, should not be omitted from the list.Google Scholar

All books published in Ulan Bator (Ulaanbaatar in the Monogol form) cited in these notes are in Monogol.

2 The Eighth Reincarnation of Zebtsundamba Khutukhtu. For the origin of the Living Buddhas of Urga see Pozdneyev, A. M., Mongolia and the Mongols (Original in Russian published in St Petersburg 1896; English translation, Indiana, 1971), Ch. 8.Google Scholar

It is interesting that this Living Buddha, who was of Tibetan origin, became the symbol of Mongolian nationalism, because of his transcending religious prestige and his non-involvement in the rivalry among the descendants of Chinges Khaan.

3 Though de facto colonization had been going on for a long time, especially in Inner Mongolia, the official abolition of the restrictions was significant as a symbol of the shift of the Manchu position from being protective overlords of the Mongols to acting as patrons of the Chinese colonists.

4 This shows that the seeking of independence was not limited to Outer Mongolia.

5 The details of these diplomatic negotiations are given in Gerard, M. Friters, Outer Mongolia and Its International Position (Baltimore, 1949), but only the Mongol sources give a full account of their pathetic struggles and deep frustration.Google Scholar

6 The most prominent case was that of People's Ayush, who from 1903 carried on an untiring resistance to the Prince of his Banner. He resumed his activities at the end of 1913.

7 Natsagdorj's, Sh.People's Movements in Outer Mongolia (Ulan Bator, 1956)Google Scholar, and People's Law Suits (Ulan Bator, 1968)Google Scholar, a collection of documents, give a clear idea of the potentialities and limitations of these legal protest movements. The quotation is from the section on ‘How Economy of the People Deteriorated and Struggles Against the Oppressors and Feudal Lords Became Widespread’, History of the People's Republic of Mongolia, Vol. II (Ulan Bator, 1968), p. 585.Google Scholar

8 The above mentioned section also describes protests by soldiers. The Biography of D. Sükhbaatar (Ulan Bator, 1973)Google Scholar, byBat-Ochir, and Dashjamts, D., and the Partisans' Narratives also give personal accounts of barrack life and protest activities.Google Scholar For example, the Narratives Vol. I, No. 12.Google Scholar

9 E.g. Partisans' Narratives, Vol. I, No. 21; Vol. II, No. 155.Google ScholarDashjamts, D. in his recent book, How Marxism-Leninism Spread and Developed in Mongolia (Ulan Bator, 1974), gives evidence on the influence of the Russian revolution in Frontier Banners beginning as early as 1918 (pp. 18–22), though he points out that in the early period, the Mongols' understanding of socialism was limited to the idea of ‘universal equality’Google Scholar (ibid., p. 73).

10 See Lattimore, Owen, Nationalism and Revolution in Mongolia (Leiden and New York, 1955), p. 67.Google Scholar

11 The Three-Man History gives a very frank and detailed account of the formation of these groups. Vol. I, pp. 44–87.

12 Tales of an Old Scribe, p. 227.

13 The humiliation suffered by the Bogd probably added to his importance as a symbol of national independence.

14 The text of the poster, in the modernized writing, is found in the Documents Concerning the History of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Vol. I (Ulan Bator, 1966), p. 9. The Mongol newspapers published in Urga during the Bogd's Government Period, under the editorship of Jamtsarano carried a number of progressive articles.Google Scholar

15 H. G. C. Perry-Ayscough, who was in the Chinese Postal Service and travelled in Mongolia at this time, also mentions that ‘Jamsarao, a Buryat,’ was the headmaster of the school for the sons of Mongols. With the Russians in Mongolia (New York and Toronto, 1914, in joint authorship with R. B. O. Otter-Barry), p. 110.Google Scholar

16 The existence of the Mongolian ‘revolutionaries’ may have been first reported to the Soviet side by a communist named Naum Burtman, who visited Urga in March 1920 on his way back from China to Soviet Russia. It was probably shortly after his visit that I. Sorokovikov went to Irkutsk.

Sorokovikov had been living in Urga and was a member of the clandestine group of pro-Soviet Russians. Having been to Irkutsk to report, he was sent back to work in Mongolia. Three-Man History, Vol. I, pp. 88–98;Google Scholar also Kungrov, G. and Sorokovikov, I., Herdsmen's Revolution (Irkutsk, 1957, in Russian), pp. 82–5.Google Scholar

17 Those who remained faithful to the Party to the end were Jalkhan Khutukhtu (who died while Prime Minister in 1923) and Magsarjab (1879–1927).

18 At that time Kyakhta belonged to the Far Eastern Republic of Siberia.

19 The Three-Man History gives the most vivid accounts of the difficulties encountered by the Mongol delegates and their impatient and agonizing waiting for the Soviet answer. Vol. I, pp. 106–40.

20 Kazanin, M. I., Memoirs of a Secretary of Mission (Moscow, 1963, in Russian). Kazanin was the secretary-interpreter, in English and Chinese, of the Yurin Mission.Google Scholar

21 Three-Man History, Vol. I, pp. 183–6.Google Scholar

22 The first document, dated 25 August 1920, is found in Shirendeb's, B.History of the Mongolian People's Revolution (Ulan Bator, 1969), pp. 167–8.Google ScholarThe second, dated 20 August 1920, is in the Documents Concerning the History of the M.P.R.P., Vol. I, pp. 11–12.Google Scholar

23 In fact, Ungern sent letters to the Bogd, asking his authorization to enter Urga (Shirendeb, , History of the Mongolian Revolution, p. 182). When Ch'en Yi once again came back to Urga as the High Commissioner, after the downfall of Hsü Shu-cheng, he changed the status of the Bogd to ‘palace-arrest’, trying to placate the feeling of the Mongols.Google Scholar

24 The text and a photograph of the visa granted to Sükhbaatar are 83:339 included in the Source Materials Concerning D. Sükhbaatar's Work and Life, pp. 64–5.

25 B. Puntsag, who helped Sükhbaatar and others to cross the frontier at Kyakhta. His account is in the Partisans' Narratives, Vol. I, No. 137.

26 L. Dembrel, who was present at this meeting, describes the scene in detail. (Reminiscences Concerning Sükhbaatar, pp. 81–3.)

27 E.g. George, G. S. Murphy, Soviet Mongolia (University of California Press: Berkeley, 1966), pp. 6–7.Google Scholar

28 Norton, H. K., The Far Eastern Republic of Siberia (London, 1923), p. 228.Google Scholar

29 It is generally maintained that a Japanese officer who called himself Suzuki (this does not seem to have been his real name; most of the Japanese adventurers did not use their real names), accompanied Ungern on his adventure in Mongolia, but the reports on these Japanese and their testimony preserved in the Library of the Foreign Office in Japan shows that they were about 50 in number and were mostly petty adventurers who posed as important officers. At the same time, their testimony reveals that Ungern was in touch with Captain Kuroki, who had been adviser to Semënov, and his group.

30 The counter-revolutionary coup d'état in the Maritime Provinces (May 1921) was probably supported by the Japanese.

31 Almost all of the partisans, in the Narratives, give accounts of how they came to join the army of the People's Party. Many of the ‘conscripts’ from the Banners made no secret of their parting from their families in tears.

32 It is also possible that a representative of Soviet Russia, probably Makstenek, attended the meeting (A Short History of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (Ulan Bator, 1967), p. 33).Google Scholar

33 The draft of the First Party Program was drawn up by Jamtsarano (Dashjamts, Marxism-Leninism in Mongolia, p. 69).

34 It is interesting to know that the contemporary Soviet leaders referred to the early revolutionaries as ‘progressive nationalists’ (ibid., p. 30).

35 It is also true that the Chinese soldiers in Kyakhta, in spite of their superior numbers, were utterly demoralized, and there must have been a considerable number of Chinese colonists and merchants who had been hurriedly mobilized at the approach of Ungern.

36 This was a very difficult time for the Provisional Government, because quite a few of the Mongols were satisfied with the restoration of the Bogd by Ungern, and the Party had to intensify its propaganda against the wicked feudal aristocrats instead of for the restoration of autonomy.

37 George Murphy maintains that there was really no need for the Soviet troops to ‘invade’ Mongolia, because at that time Ungern had already been defeated (Soviet Mongolia, p. 10). Nevertheless, Ungern's troops had not been annihilated, and the White troops in the West were still intact. The Mongol Partisans, numbering less than 2,000, could not have ‘mopped them up’ without inviting the Soviet forces into Mongolia.

38 The Bogd's Government had sent at least two decrees to the People's Party to submit to the Bogd's authority and to enter Urga unarmed.

39 ‘Constitutional’ is not quite the right word here. The first Constitution had not yet been adopted, and the authority of the Bogd was limited by the ‘Agreement under Oaths’ between the Bogd and the People's Government.

40 The narrative of a partisan named Yarin reveals that Sundui, after the defeat of Ungern, secretly sent two of his officials to Urga to find out how to save the situation for himself. Yarin, who was assigned the task of inducing Mongols serving with Ungern to come over to the revolutionary side, told them that if Sundui would capture Ungern, he would not only be forgiven for having served with Ungern but would be amply rewarded (Partisans' Narratives, Vol. II, p. 648).Google Scholar

41 The Three-Man History shows how Choibalsan approached Magsarjab, whom he describes as ‘a comrade of the Party’ and ‘one of the first members of the Party’ (Vol. II, pp. 283–6). It is more likely, however, that here Choibalsan refers to the original secret groups of nationalist-revolutionaries.

42 Dashjamts points out that the reforms at this stage were not really socialistic. The Mongols were not yet ready for the stage of socialism; but they could prepare themselves for socialism by avoiding a trend toward capitalism. He describes this as a new type of non-capitalistic democracy, the stage of revolutionary democracy (Marxism-Leninism in Mongolia, pp. 101–8).

43 The People's Party put an end to the monarchy by declaring that Zebtsundamba Khutukhtu was not to reincarnate again. At the Third Party Congress in August 1924 the decision was accepted without discussion. During this Congress Danzan was accused and executed for his affiliation with foreign capitalistic elements. The First Great National Assembly, convened in November 1924, formally proclaimed the Mongolian People's Republic and adopted the First Constitution.

44 It had been generally believed that Sükhbaatar was poisoned by lama medicinemen; but now the official biography attributes his death entirely to a bad cold, perhaps pneumonia.

45 Among the unpublished documents kept at the Japanese Foreign Office, there are letters sent by anti-revolutionary Mongol lamas and princes trying to obtain Japanese support for their activities.